PM urges Japan to raise investment in Nepal

Kathmandu, Jan. 14

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has said on Saturday that Nepal is ready to welcome more Japanese investors and investment in various areas including information technology, human resource development and infrastructure.

In a meeting with the parliamentarian of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Taira Masaaki, who is also a former state minister, he said that Nepal had now entered the phase of development and Japan's support would be critical in the coming days. Informing that favourable environment would be created for investment in Nepal, PM Dahal urged the delegation led by Taira to support in attracting Japanese investment here.

Recalling his visit to the third largest economy in the world last year, he said that he was very impressed by the development made by Japan in the field of agriculture, science and technology, and he wanted to develop similar skills and technology in Nepal.

Likewise, the PM appreciated Japan for the opportunities it has been offering to Nepali citizens to work in various fields there and urged them to cooperate in increasing this number in the future.

Taira has the responsibility of looking after IT, manpower, digital space and other sectors in the Japanese parliament. There was a discussion between the two leaders about the easy entry of Nepal's manpower into Japan.

A three-member team led by Taira came to Nepal on Wednesday with the aim of further expanding Nepal-Japan relations. It had met President of Nepali Congress, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Bishnu Prasad Paudel, on Friday.

On the occasion, Taira had inquired PM Prachanda whether his party CPN (Maoist Centre) had been more inclined to China while the latter said, “I am the person who has contested the elections four times. Our party is neither pro-China nor pro-India, we are pro-Nepal.”

Likewise, in a meeting with the Japanese delegation on Friday, NC President Deuba, expressed gratitude to Japan for its support during natural disasters such as coronavirus pandemic, earthquakes, floods and landslides.

He said that problems have started to appear in various parts of the world due to the adverse environmental effects and that problems are also occurring in Nepal, and Japan's assistance is needed in reducing these problems.

MP Taira said that he saw a high potential for water resources development in Nepal and said that this sector should be developed with the financial and technical support of Japan. Nepal would be benefitted if the produced electricity could be exported to India and Bangladesh, he said.

Similarly, in the meeting with DPM Paudel, Taira informed that India had obtained concessional loans from Japan for various projects and urged Nepal to take initiatives to take such loans from his country. On that occasion, DPM Paudel informed that there was a lack of resources for development projects and said that he would immediately take initiatives to get Japan's low-interest loan assistance.

The delegation had met with the two former PMs, KP Sharma Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal on Thursday. It has come to Nepal at the invitation of Bhaban Bhatta, former president and patron of Non-Resident Nepali Association. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 15 January 2023.